Upright erecting and hinging means



May 23, 1961 M. F. KUBESH UPRICHT ERECTING AND HINGING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 17, 1957 Fig. 2

United States Patent O UPRIGHT ERECTING AND HINGING MEANS Milo F. Kubesh, P.O. Box 252, Winsted, Minn., assigner of twenty percent to Leander F. Fasching, twenty percent to Felix H. Rickman, and twenty percent to Kenneth F. Guggemos, all of Winsted, Minn.

Filed May 17, 1957, Ser. No. 659,980

1 Claim. (Cl. 189-28) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in structural means which is expressly adapted and designed to reliably anchor and support an upright and which serves to expedite the initial installation for erection of the upright, assures that it will be sustained in a perpendicular position and permits the upright to` be swung from its perpendicular position to a horizontal, or nearly so, position for painting, attending to varying repair needs, and carrying out maintenance service.

More specifically, the upright under consideration may be classied as a light standard such as is used on streets and highways, as a pole for ilags and the like, a mast in an antenna, lamp post, and so on. To be sure, one will nd in the eld of invention under consideration prior base and mount constructions wherein pivoting and hinging means has been incorporated to allow the standard or other upright to be swung to a down accessible position. For instance, a typical example could Well be the pole mounting disclosed in Stringer Patent 2,199,897 of May 7, 1940. Other examples could, but need not, be given.

An object of the instant concept is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon prior art adaptations and, in doing so, to provide an eicient construction in which manufacturers will nd their manufacturing requirements and economies taken into account and contractors, users and others will find their respective needs electually met.

In carrying out the invention, generally speaking, a number of aspects of the same have been considered. That is to say, it is within the purview of the present invention to construe the herein revealed means as a base capable of beinganchored directly upon a concrete or an equivalent foundation. Construed otherwise, the invention pertains to a standard mounting forming an integral part of the bottomof the standard itself. Then, too, novelty is predicated on that phase of the invention which may be thought of as a hinge-equipped adaptor which is interposed between the lower end of the upright or standard and a mound or otherbase means forming a part of the concrete or other foundation.

Briefly summarized, the means under advisement is characterized rby a rigid anchoring fixture having a base plate with properly locatedholes to accommodate upstanding nut-equipped holddown studs embedded in said foundation so that when the studs are passed up through the holes of said plate and securely bolted, said plate is thus secured and held in its desired place, a rigid open-bottom housing completely covering and concealing said anchoring lixture, said `fixture having a horizontal pivot pin, opposed walls of said housing being hingedly mounted on said pivot pin, and accessible and hidden means enclosed by said housing serving to secure said housing in its normal upright supporting position, said latter means, when released, permitting said upright and housing, .as an entity, to be pivoted so that the upright is allowed to swing down from its erect position to a horizontal, or nearly so, position for painting, repair and analogous maintenance requirements.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention Patented May 23, 1961 'ice I will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings wherein like numerals are employed to `designate like parts throughout the views:

Fig. l is an elevational view of one embodiment of the invention wherein an upright, a light standard, for example, is integrated with the improved hinging device and the latter is bolted atop a base or mount rising from a foundation.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view based on the showing seen in Pig. 1 and wherein the standard is shown lowered to a horizontal working position with the aid of a so-called gin pole or an equivalent lifting and lowering device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation and with portions broken away showing the details of construction with the standard lowered.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view with parts in elevation showing the upright or standard erect.

Figs. 5 and 6 are sections on the lines 5 5 and 6-6 respectively of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional View showing certain of the structural details.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the part or unit hereinafter referred to as an anchoring fixture.

Fig. 9 is an exploded elevational View on a small scale of a modification stressing the use of the invention as a self-contained adaptor for a wholly separate upright or standard.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the foundation is denoted at 10, the upright at 12, and the mount or base at 14. This is the type of metal hollow base which is sometimes used as support means for a pole, post or the like. As seen in Fig. 4, for example, the top thereof is denoted by the numeral 16 and has a hole centered at 18 for upward passage of a cable or conductor 20. It is atop this mount 14 that the improved upright supporting and hinging means is supported, this being one adaptation of the over-al1 concept. Also, as seen in Fig. 4 this is accomplished through the use of bolts 22. With 4reference to Figs. 1 and 2 again, it will be seen that the invention is such that it serves to maintain the upright or standard 12 in a perpendicular or vertical position. In practice, this standard may be equipped with a band or clamp 24 to accommodate a hoisting cable 26 passing over a sheave28 on the upper portion of the frame of a so-called gin pole 30 or any equivalent hoisting device, preferably one with a simple windlass 32 turned by a hand crank 34 and having its lower portion constructed with a clamping device 36 and brace 38 to cooperate with the mounting or base 14. The gin pole is of course no part of the invention and in practice it may be a separate unit or may be mounted on a truck or other conveyance as is obvious.

As before mentioned, the invention may be treated in combination with the mount 14, or where the mount is omitted, with the foundation 10. For this reason, the invention is thought of as being either directly or indirectly attached to the foundation. Also, it may be made an integral part of the lower end of the standard where, for example, the lower end is welded or otherwise aflixed thereto as at 40. The essence of the invention, however, is in what may be considered a self-contained, ready-touse upright supporting and hinging device or means.

With reference first to Fig. 8, the aforementioned tixture is denoted by the numeral 42. This may be alternatively referred to as a bracket if so desired. In any event, it comprises a rigid anchoring base plate 44 having bolt holes 46 to accommodate either bolts or, as shown, for example, in Figure 9, studs 48 embedded and rising from the foundation. Rising from the base plate are vertical spaced walls 50 having spaced parallel reinforcing webs 52 and 54. Holes 56 in the web 54 serve to accommodate a fuse block which is generally denoted by the numeral 58 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The web 54 is set in from the ends 60 of the walls so that a virtual compartment or pocket is provided for the fuse block. The holes 62 in the walls 50 serve to accommodate a pivot pin 64, and it is to the end portions of this that the enclosing case or housing 66 is connected. The housing may vary in shape to be either ornamental or plain as the varying conditions require. Here it is thought of as a hollow shell or housing of general non-circular form and which is open at its bottom and has a top 68 provided with a hole 70 to accommodate the cooperating conductor 72. The housing also includes spaced vertical side walls 74 which are hinged on the pivot pin 64 in the manner seen in Fig. 7. There is also the front wall 76 and a back or rear wall 78. The side walls and rear wall are integral. The front wall is removable and serves as a cover. The interior surfaces of the front and rear walls have rigidifying cleats 80 and 82 (Fig. 6) integral therewith with the lower ends resting atop the bottom plate as seen in Fig. 4 for stability and with the upper ends forming rests or abutment shoulders 84 which underlie the underneath side of the top 68 (Figs. 4 and 5) and serve as stress and strain distributing members. With this arrangement the over-all components of the box-like housing are better unified and reinforced. There is a lug 86 connected with the base plate to accommodate a headed fastener 88 and this fastener of course has to be removed in order to permit the housing to be hinged from the normal position to the swung over and down position seen in Fig. 3.

The cover or front wall is provided with inwardly ex- `tending parallel lugs or ears 90 which accommodate headed screw fasteners 92 which extend through the side Walls 74 and through the walls 50` of the anchor fixture to secure the cover in slosed position.

It will be noticed that the cover is provided with an inwardly projecting keeper pin or stud 94 (Fig. 4) which extends into a keeper hole 96 provided in a locking pin 98 which extends through the holes 100 provided therefor (Fig. 8). As also shown in Fig. 5, this locking pin is insertable and removable and, in fact, has to be removed in order to enable the housing to be hinged on the anchor fixture.

Assuming that the housing is closed, it is secured in closed position by the locking bolt or pin 98, the keeper pin 94 which extends into the keeper hole to retain the bolt 98 against displacement. The cover in turn is secured by Way of the lugs or ears 90 and fasteners 92 in its closed position. The rear wall 78 is fastened by the fastener 88 to the upstanding fixture lug 86. The fixture 42 is bolted on the mount 14 as shown in Fig. 4. The standard or upright 12 is fixed to the top ofthe fixture at 40 as already mentioned. In this construction the fixture and housing as an entity serve as a support and hinging device when attached to the mount or mounting 14. As beforementioned, however, the invention is also to be construed as a self-contained entity or unit, and this is referred to as an adapter and is illustrated best in Fig. 9 wherein it will be seen that it is interposed between the upstanding studs 48 on the foundation 10 and the base flange 102 of the standard, which flange is fastened in place by bolts 104 passing through holes in the flange and into 'and through holes, one shown in detail in Fig. 9 in the top 68. As perhaps also best shown in this figure, as well as for the construction of Figs. 1-8, the lower corner portions of the side walls of the housing are cut away for clearance purposes as at 106 to allow free hinging of the housing relative to the fixture. Also, the lower portion of the cover is provided with suitably shaped extensions 108 which cooperate with the cut-away corners 106 in an obvious manner.

'Ihe various features and advantages of the invention have been touched upon and explained during the course of the description thus far given. In these circumstances, it is believed that the construction of the device itself and in combination with the other parts has been clearly set forth and also that the means of keeping the housing closed and opening it up and hinging it and also the use of the gin pole 30 has been clearly set forth. Other features inherent in the over-all construction will of course be clear to persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Consequently, a more lengthy description is thought to be unnecessary.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangements of parts may be resorted to in actual practice with, out departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

For use in erecting and hingedly supporting a vertically elongated city street light standard on a concrete base; erecting and supporting means for a light standard constructed and adapted to be interposed between the bottom of the light standard and a stationary concrete mount commonly in use, said means embodying, in combination, an adapter fixture having a base plate, a pair of vertical end walls attached to and rising vertically from said plate, said end walls being spaced apart parallel to each other, spaced reinforcing webs parallel to each other and interposed between and at right angles to and connected with said end walls, one of said Webs adapted to accessibly and accommodatingly support a fuse block, said base plate being apertured between the webs to permit a current conductor to be readily and cooperatively associated with said fixture, a hollow housing having a top wall and a plurality of interconnected vertical Walls, said vertical walls embodying a front wall, a back wall and side walls, the fixture telescoping wholly Within the confines of the housing and said side walls of the housing firmly contacting exterior surfaces of the end walls of the fixture, the lower portions of the walls of said housing firmly embracing and surrounding the perimeter edges of said base plate, said front wall being readily attachable and detachable so that it may be removed to expose the fixture and the interior of said housing, said front Wall being provided with lugs and said lugs being fitted between and releasably connected with the end walls of the fixture and side walls of the housing, a hinging and assembling pin spanning the space between the webs of the fixture and extending through and beyond openings provided therefor in the end walls of the fixture and into bearing holes provided in the side walls of the housing, and additional means between the base of the xture and the rear wall of said housing to assist in fastening the housing against undesired pivotal movement relative to the xture.

References Cited in the file of this patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTS Moran Oct. l, 1957 

